Russia hopes to continue mutually beneficial development of Russia-Venezuela relations

March 06, 2013, 13:49 UTC+3Russia will be represented at the funerals by Igor Sechin in the status of the Russian presidential special envoy

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NOVOSIBIRSK, March 6 (Itar-Tass) – Russia will continue to develop bilateral relations with Venezuela in the same good way, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

“We hope that the Venezuelan leadership – the Venezuelan people will decide naturally on what it will be and this is a domestic affair of Venezuela, but we assume that a positive and constructive mutually beneficial agenda of Russian-Venezuelan relations will remain a must for any leadership, as well as it will remain a must for Russia,” Peskov said.

Meanwhile, he did not comment on a version of leader of the Russian Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov, who urged to conduct a thorough investigation in the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez, who headed the Bolivarian Republic since 1999, died on Tuesday afternoon after a long heavy illness. The Venezuelan government declared a 7-day mourning, and the last farewell ceremony with the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution will last three days on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Russia will be represented at the funerals by Igor Sechin in the status of the Russian presidential special envoy, Denis Manturov as the co-chairman of the bilateral intergovernmental commission and Sergei Chemezov, who heads the Russian state-run corporation Rostechnologii.

Sechin will head the Russian delegation, Peskov said. “Igor Ivanovich Sechin is most actively involved in bilateral cooperation that has many different aspects,” the presidential spokesman said. “As a matter of fact, Chavez was an architect of this cooperation,” Peskov said. Sechin was one of the originators of the joint projects in the energy sector, the projects in the banking sphere, Peskov added.

In a telegram of condolence over the death of Chavez Russian President Vladimir Putin valued highly personal efforts of the Venezuelan leader, thanks to which solid foundations were laid down for Russian-Venezuelan partnership, active political ties were established and large-scale humanitarian and economic projects were launched. Putin also voiced confidence in the need to go further on this path, building up and developing the relations between the two countries.